City Departments will report on tree transfer program, issues encountered with those transfers, and potential solutions for halting the unfair practice.

WHEN: Monday, October 27th, 1:30PM

WHERE: Land Use and Economic Development Committee Board of Supervisors San Francisco City Hall, Room 263

WHAT: Today, Supervisors David Chiu and Scott Wiener will hold an oversight hearing on the City's program transferring maintenance responsibility of street trees from the City to private property owners. This program, which was enacted by the Department of Public Works after years of budget cuts, has shifted the maintenance responsibility for street trees to adjacent property owners regardless of their ability or desire to care for those trees. This has subjected a large number of San Francisco's more than 105,000 street trees to inconsistent and negligent maintenance practices. Supervisor Wiener previously held a hearing in 2012 to look at this program, as well as other broader issues surrounding trees in San Francisco. At the hearing, the Planning Department and the Department of Public Works presented the Urban Forest Master Plan which articulated a series of solutions to better care for the city's street trees, including different paths for the City to reassume maintenance responsibility of the trees. However, since that hearing, more trees have been relinquished to private property owners and no solutions have been enacted to reverse that trend.